From Click to Confirmed — What Actually Happens Behind the Scenes?

💳 Step 1: You Hit Send

You enter:

• Someone’s wallet address
• The amount of crypto
• (Maybe a memo or note)
• Then click Send

This action creates a transaction request.

🧠 Step 2: Your Wallet Uses Your Private Key

Your wallet signs the transaction using your private key, proving that you own the crypto and want to move it.

“Signing” is like putting your personal digital stamp on it — it confirms, "Yes, I approve this."

🔁 Step 3: It Goes to the Network

Now the transaction flies off into the blockchain network like an email looking for a server.
It joins a mempool (short for memory pool), waiting to be added to a block.

⛏️ Step 4: Miners or Validators Check It

Depending on the blockchain:

Miners (like Bitcoin) compete to solve puzzles to add it to a block

Validators (like Ethereum, Solana) confirm transactions and add them to blocks

They check:

• Is the signature valid?
• Does the sender have enough crypto?
• Has this crypto been spent already?
• If all checks out, it’s added to the block.

🔗 Step 5: It Gets Added to the Blockchain

Once your transaction is in a block:

• The block is chained to the previous one
• This creates a permanent, unchangeable record
• The transaction is now confirmed

⛽ Wait, What’s a Gas Fee?

To send crypto, you often pay a gas fee (also called a transaction fee).

This:

• Incentivizes miners or validators to process your transaction
• Helps prevent spam attacks
• Varies depending on network demand
• Gas fees are higher when the network is congested — just like Uber surge pricing but nerdier.

💸 Example: Ethereum

1. Send 1 ETH to a friend
2. Pay ~0.001 ETH in gas
3. Total cost = 1.001 ETH
4. Your friend gets 1 ETH
5. The miner gets the 0.001 ETH fee

Some chains are cheaper (like Solana), and others like Bitcoin also have small fees.

Lets find out how you actually buy crypto.